Apparatus for eliminating line twist

ABSTRACT

This invention is an apparatus for preventing twisting, kinking, fouling and intertwining of lines attached to rotational devices. A weighted block and tackle arrangement is used for each line, in combination with a grooved takeup drum. A separate portion of the drum is used for the takeup of each line.

United States Patent Jesse I. Anderson;

DeRay Parker, Idaho Falls, Idaho Mar. 27, 1969 Mar. 9, 1971 the United States of America as represented by the United States Atomic Energy Commission Inventors Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee APPARATUS FOR ELIMINATIN G LINE TWIST 1 Claim, 1 Drawing Fig.

US. Cl 242/85, 242/47.5, 242/l58.2

Int. Cl B65h 51/20, B65h 59/36, B65h 54/28 Field of Search 242/ 85,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,084,960 l/19l4 Randall 242/100.2X 1,380,549 6/1921 Flood 242/129.4 2,368,293 1 1945 Garancher 242/86 2,598,306 5/1952 Rostine 242/86X 3,145,725 8/ 1964 Knights 242/47.12X

Primary ExaminerGeorge F. Mautz Assistant Examiner-Gregory A. Walters Att0rneyRoland A. Anderson ABSTRACT: This invention is an apparatus for preventing twisting, kinking, fouling and intertwining of lines attached to rotational devices. A weighted block and tackle arrangement is used for each line, in combination with a grooved takeup drum. A separate portion of the drum is used for the takeup of each line.

PATENTEI] m 9 I97! Jesse I. Anderson DeRay Parker ATTORNEY.

g the drum.

APPARATUS FOR ELIMINATING LINE TWIST BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION ends opposite to the ends carried by the rotating apparatus,

are generally fixed and do not rotate. Consequently, when the rotating apparatus is operated, the lines tend to twist, kink, foul or intertwine, leading to stoppage of flow through one or more of the lines, or to breakage of the lines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly an object of our invention to provide apparatus for eliminating the twisting, kinking and fouling effects on a line attached to a rotational device.

It is another object of our invention to provide apparatus for eliminating the aforesaid effects in a plurality of lines con nected to a rotational device.

It is still another object of our invention to provide apparatus for prevention of intertwining of lines when a plurality of lines are connected to a rotational device.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description and claims.

In accordance with our invention we have provided a weighted block and tackle arrangement in which an otherwise slack portion of the line may be held in an orderly configuration. The block and tackle structure is used in combination with a grooved takeup drum which rotates with the rotational device to which the lines are connected. As the drum rotates, line is taken up from the block and tackle into the grooves of BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The figure is a pictorial view of one embodiment of our invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment of. our invention is shown in the figure.

A pair of blocks 1 and 1 are provided, each block containing several sheaves, the number of which depends upon the length of cable 2 to be taken up. The other end of cable 2 is fastened to a point such as on bar 5, which rotates about the axis of shaft 26. Bar 5 is fastened to the extended portion of connector 27. The round portion of connector 27 is fastened to the drum 7. It can thus be seen that the drum 7 will rotate with the rotation of bar 5. The cable 2 is led from bar 5 to the interior of the grooved drum 7, through the surface of the drum 7 at a fixed point 8, around the threaded grooves of drum 7 and into block 1. The cable 2 is then reeved through the sheaves of blocks 1 and 1" in conventional manner, through an exit point 9, to a cable termination 3 which is fastened to the plate 5. The plate 4 is mounted on a frame piece 10.

Block 1 is slidably mounted on bar 11, the axis of bar 11 being parallel to the axis of shaft 26. Block 1' is supported by the rigging of cable 2 as described above. On each side of block 1 a rod 13 is rotatably fastened. The other ends of the rods 13 are rotatably connected to a weight 14. The purpose of the weight 14 is to preserve a tension in the block and tackle rigging thus preventing twisting, kinking and fouling in the tackle falls of cable 2.

Bar ill is fastened at one end to the frame piece 12 and at mover 20 are designed such that the rotation of gear 21 which is fastened to the drum 7, operates; pacing gear 22 which in turn rotates rod 19. The lead-nut weight mover 20 is rigidly connected to block 1 by struts 28. The rotation and thread design of rod 19 cause the lead-nut weight mover 20 to move the block and tackle assembly along a line parallel to the axis of shaft 26 at a rate which will allow easy takeup of cable 2 on the drum 7. A weight guide 23 is fixed at one end to lead-nut weight mover 20, and the other end .is slidably placed through rings 24. The weight guide counteracts the small rotational tendency of the block 1' and weight 14 during operation of the apparatus.

It can be seen from the figure that identical parts may be employed to handle a second cable 25 in the same manner as described for cable 2. To keep the cables separate and prevent intertwining, each cable is taken up on a separate portion of the drum 7. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that any number of lines or cables can. be handled in the manner described by a single machine, if each cable is provided with a block and tackle assembly, a portion of bar 11, a threaded portion of rod 19, and a portion of drum 7 for takeup.

It will also be seen by those skilled in the art that a reversing mechanism may be incorporated into the gear structure in order to reverse the direction of movement of the block and tackle assembly without reversing the direction of rotation of the drum 7. Reversing may be desirable where the falls of tackle contain more line than can be accommodated on the assigned portion of drum 7. Thus the number of rotations of drum 7 in a single direction is limited only by the amount of cable or line available for takeup.

it should be noted that for purposes of clarity, the figure does not show the mountings for drum 7 on the axle shaft 26 nor the bearing structure for the axle shaft 26. These elements are clearly not essential to our invention and may be placed in the apparatus in any number of ways known to persons skilled in the art.

Our invention may be embodied in many other forms. Consequently, the scope and definition of our invention should be determined only from the following claims.

We claim:

1. The apparatus for preventing intertwining of a plurality of lines, each of the lines having a fixed. end and a rotating end, comprising:

a takeup drum;

a plurality of block and tackle riggings, the number of said riggings being equal to the number of said lines, each of the riggings holding a portion of one of the lines, each of said portions to be taken up on a separate part of the drum surface during rotation of the rotating end;

a weight attached to each of the block and tackle rigging;

means for preventing rotation of the blocks;

a threaded rod mounted parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum;

rotational connecting means between said rod and the drum whereby the rod rotates in response to rotation of the drum; and

means mounted on the threaded rod for moving the block and tackle riggings in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum. 

1. The apparatus for preventing intertwining of a plurality of lines, each of the lines having a fixed end and a rotating end, comprising: a takeup drum; a plurality of block and tackle riggings, the number of said riggings being equal to the number of said lines, each of the riggings holding a portion of one of the lines, each of said portions to be taken up on a separate part of the drum surface during rotation of the rotating end; a weight attached to each of the block and tackle rigging; means for preventing rotation of the blocks; a threaded rod mounted parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum; rotational connecting means between said rod and the drum whereby the rod rotates in response to rotation of the drum; and means mounted on the threaded rod for moving the block and tackle riggings in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drum. 